I appreciate Google's thrive for trying out new things and not being afraid to sell it to customers. But first we have to understand why a user wants to upgrade a phone.
In USA alone every 2 years you have a free upgrade, so why not use it? Plus people don't upgrade because the phone is slow, instead, the phone is abused so much, in 2 years, we want to replace it.
Phone is more of a personal / fashionable item. I would say it is more of a
personal luxury. So they really want to try out a new one every few
years. There is very less form factor to make phone, if you want to modularize
it, then there would lot of waste space in modularizing them, which
isn't worth.
Phone has to work 100% all the time. Too many moving parts cannot guarantee you 100% uptime. Phone makers went to the extent of soldering the battery to keep the phone compact.
This is a great idea for a laptop. But nobody tried that route. We upgrade laptop because it is slow. Basically people will stand in line to buy this item for "newness" factor. But after that it will be a dead product.
Looking at already mature modular products in other areas, the lesson seems to be that modular works better in the high end specialist niche. Think RED cameras or even DSLR's. Most are happy with a compact 'point and shoot' or maybe even one of those hybrid cameras with changeable lenses. It's enthusiasts and Pros that see the value in modular design, not the average consumer.
So this could work, but at the extreme end of the market. The only advantage is that you can tailor it to what you want, maybe a cheaper camera but a better screen. I don't see the advantage over just choosing between models of phone...
Any modules will be proprietary and limiting anyway.
What do you think of this new project of Google's ?
In USA alone every 2 years you have a free upgrade, so why not use it? Plus people don't upgrade because the phone is slow, instead, the phone is abused so much, in 2 years, we want to replace it.
Phone has to work 100% all the time. Too many moving parts cannot guarantee you 100% uptime. Phone makers went to the extent of soldering the battery to keep the phone compact.
This is a great idea for a laptop. But nobody tried that route. We upgrade laptop because it is slow. Basically people will stand in line to buy this item for "newness" factor. But after that it will be a dead product.
Modularity
As for the picking and choosing components, the modules will be so much more expensive that it will probably work out the same, if not cheaper to buy a regular flagship model with all the bells and whistles.Longevity:
The main limitation seems to be the chassis itself and how well the modules can be connected. I foresee the better modules needing the latest greatest chassis, creating the same upgrade model as regular phones.Looking at already mature modular products in other areas, the lesson seems to be that modular works better in the high end specialist niche. Think RED cameras or even DSLR's. Most are happy with a compact 'point and shoot' or maybe even one of those hybrid cameras with changeable lenses. It's enthusiasts and Pros that see the value in modular design, not the average consumer.
So this could work, but at the extreme end of the market. The only advantage is that you can tailor it to what you want, maybe a cheaper camera but a better screen. I don't see the advantage over just choosing between models of phone...
Any modules will be proprietary and limiting anyway.
What do you think of this new project of Google's ?
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Technology